99ls1tj

My LS1 in my rock crawler picked up what I'm pretty sure is lifter noise. It appears to be coming from the driver's side. Also, I've attached pictures of the plugs. The 2 darkest plugs came out of the driver's side (5 and 6 from the left in the pic, came out of cylinders 5 and 7) as well. I've done a cold leakdown test and only got 3-4% leakdown on all the cylinders except I got 7% on cylinder 6 (passenger side). The plugs have very little mileage on them...2 offroad trips and maybe 30 miles.

I suspect I need new valve guide seals as well.

Also, my oil pressure is not the greatest, maybe high 20's at warm idle. It does go up quite a bit with RPM's. That's checking with a mechanical auto meter gauge.








Thoughts?

Thanks

Sales4@Texas-Speed

iTrader: (4)

Man that is a loud lifter tick. That definitely could be the problem but the low oil pressure is kind of concerning. Have you checked the oil for any metal shavings at all? I would definitely do that just to be safe.

therabidweasel

iTrader: (5)

^^^^^^this.

Does the noise sound line it is coming from deep? I'd also at least pull the VC and make sure everything looks kosher. Check the metal baffle for contact with the rockers, but it sounds nastier than that. Bump the motor with the starter and make sure you don't have a rocker flopping around.

99ls1tj

Actually I am in the process of pulling the motor to do some other work in the engine bay. When I get the motor out, I'll pull the oil pan and do an inspection and then report back on what I find. Thanks

The noise sounded like it was coming from the head area.

99ls1tj

I finally got around to tearing into the motor today. I'm a rookie at this, so any advice would really be appreciated. I did not find anything obvious. There was a slight bit of grit in the bottom of the oil pan. The pistons and cylinder walls all look good to me. I don't think I'm going to tear into the short block, unless I can find a compelling reason to do so.

There were a couple of pushrods that looked more worn than others. You can see them in the first picture. Also, the matching rocker had a bit more wear.

I did find a driver side push rod that was partially clogged by what looked to be carbon.

I noticed some very slight wear on some of the lifter rollers. It was only visual, I could not feel it with a fingernail.

I also noticed the passenger rear head locating dowel had some corrosion. Is this unusual?

At this point, my plan is to do head gaskets, lifters, replace 2 push rods and maybe 2 rockers. I may do an oil pump and timing set as well.

I was planning a cam swap and a few other things, but we had some financial set backs so now money is tight.

prokilllsx

Beats me but on another note, I see Abraham Lincoln on far left exhaust valve in the first head picture! Put that puppy on ebay and buy yourself a new vette and forget about it. LOL